Ex-Hallandale Beach commissioner questioned about CRA loans

July 5, 2012|By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.orgÂ

A former Hallandale Beach commissioner said he voluntarily met with Broward Inspector General investigators Monday who questioned him about the city's embattled Community Redevelopment Agency, its purchase of property once owned by a group headed by Vice Mayor Anthony Sanders and a city loan to a local newspaper.

The former commissioner, William "Bill" Julian, is currently running for city commission. He declined to discuss details of his four-hour interview with three investigators because "they asked me not to talk about anything."

For more than a year, however, Broward Bulldog has reported about questionable city loans to local businesses and land purchases through the CRA – whose board of directors are also the city's commissioners.

The IG's office investigates suspected misconduct that includes fraud, corruption and mismanagement. IG investigators appear to have begun focusing on Hallandale Beach and its CRA this spring with a trip to City Hall in April. In response to their requests, the city recently turned over thousands of pages of records.

Records indicate that investigators are examining the CRA and a city grant program that funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and donations to eight local nonprofits, including several linked to Vice Mayor Sanders or his wife, Jessica.

In 2009, after Sanders' appointment to the commission the year before, the city spent $235,000 in CRA tax dollars to buy a building and land at 501 NW First Ave. owned by Higher Vision Ministries, a not-for-profit corporation whose officers included Sanders and his wife.

Sanders, who did not vote on the city's purchase, was a director of Higher Vision Ministries when it bought the property in 2001 for $45,000. The nonprofit received a $46,000 property improvement loan from the city not long after the purchase.

The terms of the loan immediately forgave $7,500 in principal. An error by the city at the time the property was sold in 2009 doubled that forgiveness to $15,000 – meaning Higher Vision Ministries only had to pay back $31,000.

Julian, who served as a commissioner and vice mayor from 2001 to 2010, when he was defeated for re-election, said the investigators also asked about a CRA loan to the for-profit South Florida Sun Times.

The weekly newspaper, which regularly features a column by Mayor Joy Cooper, received a $50,000 CRA business loan under favorable terms in 2009.

Half of the loan — $25,000 – was forgiven even though for two years prior to the loan the newspaper's two top executives each reported incomes averaging more than $200,000.

Julian told Broward Bulldog there has been turmoil at the CRA, with several directors being removed in past years. He added that CRA funds were used for a variety of charitable contributions to community groups.

"I didn't question use of CRA funds for charitable contributions," Julian said of his time on the city commission. Commissioners, he added, wanted to "take a load off the general fund…I don't know if that was legal. That will have to come to light."

"I don't know of wrongdoings by commissioners or myself," Julian said. "I don't know if I did something wrong." Julian added that if something was done incorrectly, "let's fix it."

Julian said he contacted the IG office Friday and volunteered to be interviewed because "there's a cloud of suspicion over me."

He said he was compelled to come forward because of public comments on recent stories about the IG investigation and what his involvement might have been while in office.

"I want to be as open as possible," Julian said. "I have never been accused of anything in my life."

Inspector General John Scott did not respond to a request for comment.

Julian is one of six candidates vying for two at-large commission seats up for grabs Nov. 6. The other candidates are Vice Mayor Sanders, Gerald Dean, Ann Pearl Henigson, Csaba G. Kulin and Michelle Lazarow.

Dorothy Ross, a commission member for 17 years, is not seeking re-election.